OK, so there is a certain part that was made for the s2000 that was discontinued several years ago, I got my hands on it and I am considering making a carbon fiber mold and replicating it.... I see this happening all the time on here with hardtops, bumpers, lips, etc etc. I'm wondering if there is no legal issues for doing such a thing? do I have to slightly change the mold so it's not a direct replica to get by the legal issues? any help is appreciated thanks!!!

 

What is the part? (sorry, I have no answer concerning legality)

 

Very complex area of the law as Samsung just found out. And very expensive to be offside. You need to talk to a patent attorney. If you are intending to go into production as a business then you may be exposed to a lawsuit not only on a patent infringement but also on industrial design if the original was an original artifact designed by the original manufacturer. The fact that he/they ceased to produce the part does not give you a licence to do so with impunity. Talk to the originator and seek his consent to your producing the copy and pay him a royalty on each piece manufactured and sold. That is the safe and honorable thing to do.!!

 

 

If it's just for personal use, i dont see the problem with it. How else will anyone know but you?? If on the other hand, you're trying to mass produce them and sell then you might have some issues.

 

"bacardi and cola... DO IT"

 

I appreciate your input! I am curious though how all these other brands get away with copying hoods, hardtops, bumpers, wheels, etc etc.

I am wondering if changing/modifying the part so it is not an exact replica anymore will be a loophole

 

i would think that as long some small thing is different its ok,.....after all there is only sooooo many ways to make anything, look at shift ARC shift knobs.....10 replicas are almost the same except maybe the weight,
If you name is "oem style" or whatever you should be good but dont take my word for it.

 

As long as you are not trying to "pass off" your product as someone else's ( eg a "Honda Hard Top") you may be ok but to be absolutely safe you need to talk to a Patent Attorney who will be able to give you all the dos and don't dos so that you are safe and you are not infringing somebody else's work effort. It is very much the same as copying software and putting it in a box and selling it - you have stalen someone else's work product and are reaping the benefits of that earlier work. You can't copy - you can create your own from scratch. Like how many different kinds of BBK's do we have, or tower strut bars all of which do the same thing but each of which is slightly different in design or materials used or interface with the strut tower. I have some problems with the HT's that are direct copies of the OEM HT in shape/design but made out of carbon or whatever. This should not be allowed - design your own, make your own molds from your own design, do the hard work that design involves. Creating an exact copy of something by wrapping fibreglass around it to create your own mold to make other copies for sale to other parties is stealing and you should be prosecuted for design theft if you do.this. If you have an old product which is no longer in production what you need to do is sit down and figure out what was it about that original design that was somehow deficient that resulted in it not selling well. Correct the errors;make the improvements; improve the design with something that actually works better - that is how you can minimize your exposure to a passing off action. You must add something of value to the idea, something of yourself in time, effort, money, ingenuity etc That is called "progress" and "creativity" and was what used to make the US economy great. As you can tell I feel passionately about the isssue!

 

Is there a patent on the part? If not, go for it.